The absolutely true

diary of a part-time
Indian
 Big questions
 What happens when a person leaves their home environment in
pursuit of success? Do they give up or betray their identity? Is it
really true that “you can never go home again”?
What makes for a good high school experience? Do you have to be
happy for your education to have been a good one?
 How do we, as humans, overcome adversity? What tactics do we
use to get through hard times, difficult situations, and general
injustice?
 Identify "Spokane" and "Coeur D'Alenne" on the map.


 Use the key to find
the Spokane and Coeur D'Alenne reservations.
 Biography of Sherman
Alexie
 Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew
up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of
Spokane, WA.

Born hydrocephalic, which means with water on the brain, Alexie underwent a brain
operation at the age of 6 months and was not expected to survive. When he did beat the odds,
doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation. Though he showed no signs of
this, he suffered severe side effects, such as seizures, throughout his childhood. In spite of all
he had to overcome, Alexie learned to read by age three, and devoured novels, such as John
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, by age five. All these things ostracized him from his peers,
though, and he was often the brunt of other kids' jokes on the reservation.

As a teenager, after finding his mother's name written in a textbook assigned to him at the
Wellpinit school, Alexie made a conscious decision to attend high school off the reservation in
Reardan, WA, about 20 miles south of Wellpinit, where he knew he would get a better
education. At Reardan High he was the only Indian, except for the school mascot. There he
excelled academically and became a star player on the basketball team. This experienced
inspired his first young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
 In 1985 Alexie graduated Reardan High and went on to attend Gonzaga
University in Spokane, WA, on scholarship. After two years at Gonzaga,
he transferred to Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, WA.
Alexie planned to be a doctor and enrolled in pre-med courses at WSU,
but after fainting numerous times in human anatomy class realized he
needed to change his career path. That change was fueled when he
stumbled into a poetry workshop at WSU.

Encouraged by poetry teacher Alex Kuo, Alexie excelled at writing and

realized he'd found his new path. Since starting out as a writer, Alexie
has published over a dozen books of both poetry and prose, and has
received several national awards and honors, including the National
Book Award and the Pen/Faulkner Award.
 First chapter of the book,
pages 1-6.
Discuss: What are the ways that Alexie’s personal history is
influencing this book? Since there are some obvious connections
between his life and the narrator’s, why do you think he chose
to write this book as a work of fiction, and not an
autobiography?
The Nez Perces and the
Dawes Act
 Consider these two
quotations
 "Whensoever hostile aggressions..require a resort to war, we
must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just
friends and brave enemies.
— Thomas Jefferson, 1806 in a letter to Andrew Jackson
 "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral
questions of our time; the need for man to overcome
oppression and violence without resorting to oppression
and violence."
— Martin Luther King, Jr. in a speech accepting the Nobel
Peace Prize, 1964
 Discuss!
 Is war ever justified?
 Can you think of examples from history of "just" wars, or of
leaders of successful non-violent movements
 Fight no more forever
(video,  07:00)
 Who are these people?
 Chief joseph
 Sitting bull
 George Armstrong Custer
 Good words (video from 59’37)
Part 1: until 1:03:19

 Chief Joseph and his powerful and poetic use of language.

 Do you think Chief Joseph's father was foolish not to move
onto a reservation along with other bands of Nez Perce?
 Should Chief Joseph and his followers agree to move on to
the reservation now, or should they put up a fight?
 Should Joseph have refused Howard's offer to buy their
lands for them in an attempt to save them?
 How do you explain Howard's role as military commander
of this effort, given his enlightened role as head of the
Freedman's Bureau after the Civil War?
 Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909)
Throughout his long military career, Oliver Otis Howard gained
victory by the force of his own moral convictions as often as by
force of arms.

Born in Maine in 1830, Howard received his education at

Bowdoin College, then attended West Point, where he became a
mathematics professor in the mid-1850's. He was on the verge
of switching careers to become a minister when the Civil War
erupted. During the war, he commanded troops at First Bull
Run, Fair Oaks (where severe wounds forced the amputation of
his right arm), Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
 Oliver Otis Howard
(1830-1909)
Even in battle Howard was as much a moral crusader as a warrior,
insisting that his troops attend prayer and temperance meetings.
After the war, he was appointed head of the Freedman's Bureau,
which was designed to protect and assist the newly-freed slaves. In
this position, Howard quickly earned the contempt of white
Southerners and many Northerners for his unapologetic support of
black suffrage and his efforts to distribute land to African-
Americans. He was also fearlessly candid about expressing his
belief that the majority of white Southerners would be happy to see
slavery restored. He even championed freedom and equality for
former slaves in his private life, by working to make his elite
Washington, D.C., church racially integrated and by helping to
found an all-black college in the District of Columbia, which was
soon named Howard University in his honor.
 Oliver Otis Howard
(1830-1909)
In 1872, Howard brought a similar courage and sense of
commitment to the American West when he was dispatched by
the Grant administration to meet with the Chiricahua Apache
leader Cochise and bring an end to his decade-long guerilla war
against American settlers. Travelling almost alone, Howard
entered the Apache chief's stronghold and secured a peace
agreement by promising him a reservation of his own choosing.
Other generals and public officials condemned what they saw
as the overly generous terms of this agreement, but Howard's
promise was upheld by an executive order which set aside
nearly the whole southeastern corner of the Arizona Territory as
a Chiricahua reservation on which Cochise and his people could
live with little meddling from the army.
 Oliver Otis Howard
(1830-1909)
Five years later, in 1877, Howard faced a different situation in
Oregon, where he was sent to persuade a Nez Percé band led
by Chief Joseph to leave their homeland in the Wallowa Valley
for the reservation assigned to them in Lapwai, Idaho. Howard
found himself agreeing with Joseph that his people had never
signed a treaty giving up their homeland, but in Howard's view
this did not change the fact that eastern Oregon was no longer a
place where Indians could roam free.
 Good words (until 1:04:30)
 What do you think Chief Joseph should do now? Should he
remain a pacifist or become a war leader?
 Consider the terrain in this region of the country. Look at
the precipitations and rainfall map.
 What will be the most difficult aspects of survival in this
part of the country?
 From 1:04:30. Take notes! Keep score of the
losses suffered by both sides.

 Nez perces  US Army

 Video (until 1:11:30)
 Should Chief Joseph continue to fight, especially since his
Indian allies, the Crows, have deserted him?
 What could justify the continued loss of Nez Perce lives?
 What effect do you think these events might have had on
American citizens around the country as they read news of
these events in their papers?

 Video (until 119:00
 Should the Nez Perce have surrendered at this point? If so
why?
 On what condition did Chief Joseph surrender?
 In what ways could Chief Joseph's (and the war chief
Looking Glass') strategy of retreat be compared to George
Washington's lengthy retreat during the American
Revolution? Can a retreat be an offensive tactic as well as a
defensive one?
 In what ways could Chief Joseph's attempts to win his
people's freedom be compared to Nat Turner's ill-fated slave
rebellion?
 Nat Turner’s rebellion
 Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an enslaved African American
who led a rebellion of slaves and free blacks in Southampton County, Virginia on August
21, 1831. The rebels went from plantation to plantation, gathering horses and guns,
freeing other slaves along the way, and recruiting other blacks who wanted to join their
revolt. During the rebellion, Virginia legislators targeted free blacks with a colonization
bill, which allocated new funding to remove them, and a police bill that denied free
blacks trials by jury and made any free blacks convicted of a crime subject to sale and
relocation.[1] The rebellion resulted in the deaths of 55 to 65 white people. Whites
organized militias and called out regular troops to suppress the uprising. In addition,
white militias and mobs attacked blacks in the area, killing an estimated 200,[1][2] many of
whom were not involved in the revolt.[3]
 In the aftermath, the state quickly arrested and executed some 55 blacks accused of being
part of Turner's slave rebellion. Turner hid successfully for two months. When found, he
was tried, convicted, sentenced to death, and hanged. Across Virginia and other southern
states, state legislators passed new laws to control slaves and free blacks. They prohibited
education of slaves and free blacks, restricted rights of assembly for free blacks, withdrew
their right to bear arms (in some states), and to vote (in North Carolina, for instance), and
required white ministers to be present at all black worship services.
 Chief Joseph’s speeches
 http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/
jospeak.htm
 "Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my
country now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father's
grave. They do not pay for my horses and cattle. Good words do not
give me back my children. . ."
 What effect did the flight of the Nez Perce have on the Nez Perce
nation?
 Would you characterize their flight and fight as a success or failure?
 What effect did it have on America?
 What effect have Chief Joseph's words had on America's conscience?
 THEMES
 Task: explain how the theme is treated in the book
 Which characters can you associate with that theme?
 Find one or several quotes on this theme and comment on it
 Can you think of another book where this theme is present.
Is the way it is treated different from ‘The absolutely true
diary..’?
 Report to the class!
 List of themes
1. Identity 8. Hopes, Dreams, and Plans

2. Home 9. Education

3. Race 10. Tradition and Custom

4. Poverty

5. Literature and Writing

6. Mortality

7. Friendship